The Simpsons

"Homer At The Bat" aired 20 years ago tonight, and won the ratings for the first time ever, beating both Cosby and the Winter Olympics.

http://deadspin.com/5886723/the-making-of-homer-at-the-bat-the-episode-that-conquered-prime-time-20-years-ago-tonight

Homer At Bat was an event when it aired. Baseball fans had been hearing about it for months prior.

I had no idea who any of the players were when i first saw Homer At The Bat (still don't with most of em) but it was the best thing ever

i think the closing song explains everything about the ep pretty succinctly

All of the players were cooperative except for José Canseco, who was intimidating.[4] He disliked his original part and insisted it be rewritten, and the writers grudgingly[5] made him as heroic as possible.[4] He was originally slated to wake up in bed with Edna Krabappel and miss the game, but Canseco's then-wife, Esther Haddad, objected.[8][9] He disliked his caricature, stating that "the animation looked nothing like (him),"[8] but that he found the acting was very easy.[10] When asked in 2007 about his part by the San Jose Mercury News, he responded, "that was 100 years ago," hung up the phone and did not answer any of the paper's subsequent calls for an interview about his guest spot.[8]

If I didn't already know what an ass Canseco was I'd think he was quite an ass right now.

Ken Griffey, Jr. did not understand his line "there's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited" and got quite frustrated when he was recording it

What's great is that it's a funny, well written episode with solid jokes even without the ballplayers, but with them, it just goes to the next level. (Even today, when watching a boring baseball game, either my wife or I will bust out, "… and the next man wants to hit the ball, too. And he does, and everyone is happy.")

See I didnt get any of the jokes relevamt to the players themselves. I didnt even know they were specific refs, til the SNPP entry I just read (stuff like the 'get a haircut!' rant for eg). It all worked regardless, I figured there was another layer I was mising tho.

i read somewhere that the 'get a haircut!' line / incident was actually an odd coincidence - the real life version of it actually came after the voice recordings for the episode.

actually actually.

Homer Simpson: Hey Clemens, did I make the team?
Roger Clemens: You sure did.
Homer Simpson: Woo-hoo! In your face, Strawberry!
Roger Clemens: Wait a minute. Are you Ken Griffey Jr.?
Homer Simpson: No.
Roger Clemens: Sorry. Didn't mean to get your hopes up.

I love that Ozzie Smith really got into it. I always thought there was something more considered about his delivery than that of the other players.

Also:
Marge: Children, tell me when your father stops scratching himself.
[long pause]
Marge: Kids?
Bart: We'll tell you, Mom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcXWsibiiPk

http://www.lasertimepodcast.com/2012/02/21/laser-time-simpsons-sing-the-blehs/

On a related note, going thru the tracks of "Sing the Blues" and "The Yellow Album"

i listened to a solid minute of that and have no idea what it is

'not once, not twice, but thrice!'

http://a.espncdn.com/media/pg2/2004/0123/photo/straw_sp.jpg

i like the intro this week

^^^ Rest of the show was abominable, tho.

what did you think of the rabbit?

I decided, out of I dunno, masochistic curiosity, to watch the latest episode, about everyone at the nuclear plant being replaced by robots. Christ it was bad. The storyline hopped from one nonsensical point to another with reckless abandon, and not even in the usual bad Simpsons way of nothing connecting acts together and so on, but in simple terms of NOTHING MAKING SENSE, either across the entire narrative or at any individual point. So many bad jokes, non-jokes, unfunny interminable repetitions. So much Homer being an utter irredeemable dick. No one's really a character any more, they all just seem to float around while stuff happens for some reason. GOD. Who still watches this??

I don't, makes me very sad. I also don't understand the love for new South Parks, new Office. Too many shows lose sight.

I respect the voice actors always fighting for money, because they're the only reason this show has survived, but holy shit do they sit on piles of money when recording their lines to remind themselves of why they bother?

Some of the actors have been vocal about how crappy the episodes have been, particularly Harry Shearer. And Dan Castellenata has written a couple, but nothing to think about writing home about.

But thinking about how Groening refused to put his name on the film festival episode (because he hated the Critic crossover) and yet still tacitly endorses the last 13-14 years of crapulence, it's hard to imagine too many people involved in the day-to-day of the show even notice the colossal downturn in quality.

when is the last season? is there any definitive answer?

Just saw the Lady Gaga episode, the first new episode I've seen in years (lol UK) and I am very unimpressed and saddened by it.

No one ever bumps this thread with joy.

"I rebuke thee, lady gaga" is a little bit of brilliance. up there with "baboon" as far as righteous lisa quotes will go.

Every time I've watched in recent years (usually because someone I like is participating in some way), it's been a very sad affair. Like visiting a senile relative who no longer remembers anyone's name.

i think my grampa peaked in season 7 but everyone else says season 5.

No one ever bumps this thread with joy.

― Jeff, Tuesday, May 22, 2012 7:50 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Bill Plympton couch gag a few weeks ago was beautiful

You know, without a trace of zing, I was going to mention that WGW bumps this thread regularly with news that this show doesn't suck 100% of the time.

That's true though - bits and pieces of the newer eps have made me laugh, and it's at least on par with most of the other garbage that FOX runs. Then again being on par with Seth MacFarlane sets the bar pretty low.

Fucking hell, first time I've seen that 500th show end-card (lol UK redux); pure, dripping contempt for your (perceived) audience is truly nagl.

There's a very nu-Simpsons vibe to referring to "logging onto the internet" in 2012

There was a gag two weeks ago with Rod (or Todd) Flanders riding a tricycle with training wheels that was funny. Other than that I'd really have to think.

Bob's Burger's, OTOH, has been constant lolz for me.

>There's a very nu-Simpsons vibe to referring to "logging onto the internet" in 2012

srsly, I don't ask for much; Santa's Little Helper saying "chewy" is enough to raise a smile when I just think about it many years later, but to imply that the reason they're not funny any more is because it's your fault you don't get it, perhaps you might want to take a look at your own worthless lives? is some nth level shittiness.

there was one where Marge gets angry and throws a pair of socks at a car, which wind up shattering the back window, that was really funny

it's crazy how we've gone from "Futurama is good, but it's nowhere near the Simpsons" to "the only time the Simpsons are good anymore is when they do jokes on par with what Futurama does"

9xpost) They were kinda doing that way back in "Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie" with Comic Book Guy and the internet pundits, except that show was (imo) funny and 500th episode wasn't.

i feel like they should stop doing the show and just do couch bits and movies

The movie wasn't even that good, but there's a thread for that.

'itchy and scratchy and poochie' was directed at a fair target, since at the time while most of the newsgroup coverage was positive (contrary to how they pose it now, where it's suggested that the internet's hated it since virtually the beginning) there was that hardcore group of people determined to pinpoint the shark jump and complain about everything. but i think that episode was also pretty self-reflective, insofar as they felt that they were a good show that was coming close to the end of its run and it made sense that people were tiring of it or not getting what they hoped for. except now it's run for another 15 years, and i don't imagine the current staff are capable of that kind of reflection, or of empathy for the viewpoints of dissenting fans.

exactly - I'd look to the South Park "You're Getting Old" episode for a good example of this done right

(plus, the Towelie episode was a lot like the Poochie one)

they felt that they were a good show that was coming close to the end of its run and it made sense that people were tiring of it or not getting what they hoped for

unless there's a quote from someone involved w/ the show out there somewhere that suggests this it seems like hueg projection

that ep was like 1996/7 wasn't it? the idea that such an astronomically small % of the audience as online newsgroups would have been seen to represent the viewers at large seems really off

the poochie was supposedly based on actual network notes to add characters like poochie to the show, and seemed to me more directed against FOX than newsgroup haters.

ya sorry, i can't remember what they said exactly but that's the kind of attitude oakley & weinstein were projecting in the dvd commentary - i mean, it had been running for eight years at that point, it probably felt safe to assume that it was past peak popularity (which it was, obviously) and only had a couple of years (lol) of slightly declining popularity/critical favour (lol) to go.

xp

Fucking hell, first time I've seen that 500th show end-card (lol UK redux); pure, dripping contempt for your (perceived) audience is truly nagl.

― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 04:39 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's a very nu-Simpsons vibe to referring to "logging onto the internet" in 2012

― frogbs, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 04:42 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

brought to mind a writers' room full of old men who tuck their casual vertical-striped shirts into their jeans and don't trim their wayward eyebrows

ian maxtone graham has a secret desk full of new socks and underwear.